We mentioned the Sifsei Chachomim who learns that Moshe Rabbeinu “screamed” so that he could hear himself daven, however, the meforshim (besides for the Mabit we mentioned above) bring many other reasons for why he “screamed” and according to all these reasons we have no proof that one can’t daven normally in a place where there is loud music.
The Seforno
The Seforno explains:שיסיר אותם הצפרדעים בלבד אשר שם לפרעה וישארו ביאור בזה הוצרך לתפילה צעקה דפלגא מן שמיא לא יהבי – “(Moshe davened) that only the frogs that were affecting Pharaoh should be removed, however, the frogs in the river should remain. For this Moshe needed to ‘scream’ (special prayer), as normally in Shomayim they don’t answer half things.” Since Moshe wanted something out of the ordinary, he only wanted half the frogs to leave, whilst the other half should remain in the river, therefore, he needed a special type of tefillah. From the fact that the Seforno needed to come on to this explanation, we see that he doesn’t learn like the Sifsei Chachomim, and he holds that Moshe didn’t need to shout for the din of לאזניו השמיע.
We can refute the above, as who says there is a din of השמיע לאזניו by all tefillos and requests that one davens to Hashem. Perhaps only by krias shema and its berachos and where we find this din explicitly is there such a din, however, by an ordinary tefillah who says there is such a din. Therefore, besides for this being a strong question on the Sifsei Chachomim, we don’t have a proof from the Seforno to the contrary, as perhaps it’s true that by krias shema there is a din of השמיע לאזניו and if there is loud music it’s a problem, however, here the reason Moshe “screamed” was not because of this din, but because he was davening for half a matter, therefore, he needed to daven an extra powerful tefillah.
Three Explanations from Rabbeinu Ephraim Why Moshe “Screamed”
The Moishav Zekeinim brings from Rabbeinu Ephraim three reasons why Moshe “screamed”:
- So that he wouldn’t be accused of witchcraft, and he needed to scream as the sound of croaking was very loud, and he wanted to be heard by the Egyptians.
- It was difficult to remove them from the ovens, therefore, he needed to increase in tefillah.
- Moshe accredited greatness to himself when he said עלי למתי אעתיר לך התפאר, therefore, as a punishment he now had to scream and increase in tefillah and supplications”. (The Rosh Al HaTorah also brings this third peshat).
Paneach Raza
The Paneach Raza explains, that Pharaoh never requested for a complete end to the frogs - he never asked that they should die, all he asked for was that they should be removed. Moreover, all he asked for was that they be removed from him and his people, however, he never asked that they be removed from the houses and courtyards. However, in order to show the wonderfullness and mercy of Hashem, Moshe added by himself that they should die completely, and they should be removed even from the houses and courtyards. Therefore, “It says here he ‘screamed’ more than in other places, as he needed to scream more, as Moshe was asking for more than what Pharaoh requested.”
